Means for retarding or stopping motion.



`1 ATENTED MAR. a, 190e..

` M. s. oKUN. y MEANS-POR RBTARDING v0R sTo-PPING MOTION.

APPLIATIN FILED APR. 18, 1902.

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MOSES S. OKUN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MEANS FOR RETARDING OR STOPPING MOTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 721,826,` dated March 3, 1903.

Application filed April 18, 1902. Serial No. 103,554. (No model.)

T @ZZ whom t may concern:

Beit known thatI, MOSES S. OKUN, acitizen of theUnited States, residing in` the borough of Manhattan, New York city, county and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and Improved Means for Retarding'or Stopping Motion, of which the following is such a full,clear, and exact description as will enable any one skilled in the `art to which it appertains to make and usel the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

The principal objects of my present invention are toprovide efcient means for retarding or bringing to rest motion, such as that performedby various mechanical movements, with little or no shock and without the usual amount of wear upon the part or parts acted upon. Y

To these ends myinvention consists in the various novel and peculiar arrangements and combinations of the several parts of the apparatus, all as hereinafter fully described and then pointed out in the claims.

I have illustrated types of my invention in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure l is an under side View of a car or vehicle to which my improved mechanism is applied and which is shown in .horizontal section and which comprises a pair of oppositelyacting pistons. Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged views of details of the valves shown in Fig. l. Fig. 4 is aview of a modied form of valveoperating connections. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view, in horizontal section, of a modified form of the apparatus.

Referring to the drawings, in which like numbers of reference designate like .parts throughout, 2 and 3 are cylinders, in which are reciprocated pistons 4 and 5, respectively, which in turn are connected with piston-rods 6 and 7, attached to cross-heads 8 and 9, slid- I ing in ways 10 and 11, and to the respective cross-heads are pivoted connecting-rods 12 and 13, which in turn are acted upon by the eccentrics 14. and 15, one of which is actuated by the forward axle 16 of the ,car and the other by the rear axle 17.' The eccentrics 14 and 15 are set with a lead of ninety degrees, so that the pistons 4. and 5 move in opposite directions to each other, and while one travels forwardly the other travels backwardly, and vice versa.

The respective ends of the cylinder 2 communicate, by means of openings 18 and 19, with a chamber or ley-passage 20, and these openings are provided with valves 21 and 22, respectively, for partially or entirely closing such openings. The respective ends of the cylinder 3 are similarly connected with said chamber or by-passage through means of openings 23 and 24., provided with valves 25 and 26, respectively. Thus the chamber 2O is common to both cylinders 2 and 3, which are in free communication therewith through openings which are designed to be about of the same areain cross-sections as the crosssectional area of the cylinders and the chamber itself. The purpose of having such openings and parts so related is to permit of the body of liquid 27 being moved from one end of a piston through the by-passage 20 to the opposite end of the said piston with the eX- penditure of as little force or power as possible when the piston is to run free, as will be hereinafter more fully pointed out.

The valves 21, 22, 25, and 26 are circular and are each provided with a shaft 28, to which is secured Aa crank-arm 29, having a pin 30 working in a slot 3l, provided transversely in an operating-rod 32, and being connected at its respective ends with pivoted 0perating hand-levers 33 and 34. for setting the valves at any particular point of their range of movement.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the valves are all shown as Open to their full limit, and they may be partially or entirely closed by moving the rod endwise.

In Fig. 5 I showa modification of the apparatus in which but one piston 35 is employed, and this reciprocates in a cylinder 36, it being driven by a piston-rod'37. This cylinder 36 is irl-communication at its ends through means of openings 38 and 39,respectively,with the chamber or lay-passage 40, which is of about the same capacity as the cylinder, and the openings 38 and 39 are designed to be of about the same cross-sectional area as the cylinder and chamber. yA valve-t1 is arranged Within the chamber 40 and is provided with a stem 42 for turning the valve to close and IOO open it, and this stem is actuated by fixed arms 43 44, which are connected with a reciprocating rod 45, which runs to convenient points for operation by hand.

In Fig. 4 I show another form of valve-operating means comprising a beveled gear 4G, fixed to the valve-stem 42 and gearing with a similar gear 47, fixed to a shaft 48, which carries a fixed beveled gear 49, in mesh with a like gear 50, secured upon a rotary rod 5l, havinga handle for turning it, and by means of which the valve 4l through the intermediate connections just described may be operated.

In order to recover the liquid 27, which I prefer to be oil, that may leak from the cylinders through the bearings of the piston-rods, I provide a leakage-compartment 52, preferably upon the exterior of each cylinder and through which the piston rods reciprocate. Each of' the compartments 52 is connected, by means of a pipe 53, with a comparatively large-sized reservoir 54, which is in com n1 nnication with the cylinder by means of a pressure regulated springactuated valve 55, which opens in toward the cylinder and when opened permits the liquid 27 to flow from the reservoir into the cylinder to replace the liquid that may have leaked therefrom into the leakage-compartment.

The cylinders, the by-passage, the leakagecompartments, pipe connections, and reser- Voirs are all kept filled with the liquid 27, and the valve 55 is normally closed. During the operation of the apparatus as the liquid leaks under pressure from the cylinder into the leakage-compartment a like quantity is forced therefrom through the pipe connection 53 into the reservoir, where the pressure serves to open the valve 55 and permit the liquid to enter the cylinder to replace the leakage, whereupon the valve closes and the operation continues.

From the foregoing description it will be readily understood that while the respective ends of the cylinder are in free communication with each other through the connected bypassage or chamber by reason of the valves standing open to their full limit the piston in each cylinder will be practically free to reciprocate, and the liquid 27 will be moved from the one end of the piston to the other with little force or power to move it, so that virtually no power is thereby lost. When the valve or valves in the communieating by-passage are partially closed, the iow of the liquid in moving from one end of the piston to the other is thereby restricted, and this retards the movement pf the piston. By closing the valve or valves and cutting of communication the liquid is prevented from flowing, and this serves to hold the piston at rest and to stop the motion of the connected parts.

It is very important in order to avoid as much as possible the loss of energy in moving the liquid in the cylinder from one side of the piston to the other to make the diameter or the square cross-section of the connecting bypassage or chamber comparatively large and preferably of the same diameter. The reason for this is thata certain amountot` energy is wasted in moving the liquid in the cylinder from one end of the piston to the other. The amount of' energy consumed in this case will be, rst, proportional to the Weight of liquid which is set in motion, and it will be, second, proportional to the square of the velocity which it is necessary to give to the liquid in order to make it pass through the connecting by-passage when the piston is moving in the cylinder, this being in accordance with the law that the power necessary to set in motion a body is proportional to the square of the velocity of the body set in motion.

By making the by-passage which connects the ends of the cylinder of smaller cross-sectional area than the cylinder the liquid in this part must have greater velocity, which will be inversely proportional to the relation of the cross-sectional area of the by-passage to that of the cylinder. If the diameter ot' the by-passage be n times smaller than that of the cylinder, the area will be n2 times smaller than the area of the cylinder, and consequently the velocity in the by-passage Will be 11,2 times greater than in the cylinder, and as the power necessary to move the liquid is proportional to the square of the velocity of the liquid to be moved therefore the power required will be (1t2)2, or n4.

It will be observed that the reservoir 54 for supplying the oil or other liquid 27 may be made as large as desired, the larger the better, and its position relative to the cylinder may be changed as preferred. It will be further observed that the leakage-compartment may be used alone with the cylinder and its bypassage and will serve the double function of catching the oil that leaks from the cylinder through the piston-rod bearing and preventing the outer air from finding its way into the cylinder through such bearing. If preferred, the reservoir may be so arranged as to supply but one end of the cylinderl by dispensing with the by-passage. In all cases the reservoir itself serves to keep the outer air from entering the liquid-{illed cylinder' and interfering with the working of the mechanism, and this is one of the important objects of the invention.

In using the terms cylinder and piston in the description and claims such expressions are used broadly for a casing or chamber in which a niernberor part is moved.

There are many well-known devices to which my improved means may be applied to act as a retarder or brake. It may, for example, be used as a brake for a car, as I have herewith shown it in the drawings. In this latter instance .of its use it will be observed that the ordinary brake-shoe for act- IOO IIO

ing upon the rim of the wheel is dispensed with, and the usual wear and tear between these parts is thus avoided.

In order to have the same amount of surface on each side of the piston against which the liquid acts, I prefer to duplicate upon the opposite side of the piston from Where the working piston-rod is located an idle rod of the same diameter as the working piston-rod and to have the same slide through a suitable bearing in the end of the cylinder, the idea being to preserve the same amount of active surface of the piston-face upon each side of the piston in order to avoid any possible compression of the liquid on the return stroke of the piston.

Having thus described my invention, I claim'- 1. As a means for retarding or stopping motion, the combination of a driven member, a piston connected with said driven member and moving in response thereto, a cylinder in which saidvpiston is reciprocated, a chamber or by-passage communicating with the respective ends of said cylinder and provided with a valve by means of which the interior of said chamber or by-passage may be partially or entirely closed to control the communication between the ends of said cylinder, the said by-passage having at its smallest cross-sectional area not less than about one-third that ot the cylinder in which said piston reciprocates to permit of the flow of the body of liquid back and forth through the same from one end of the cylinder to the other with little force to move it, and a body of liquid filling said cylinder and the communicating vchamber or by-passage, whereby when the said valve in the bypassage is opened the piston may freely reciprocate in the liquid but its motion may be retarded by partially closing the valve to restrict the ow of the liquid through said by-passage from one end of the cylinder to the other and whereby the piston may be held at rest by closing the valve to stop the flow of the liquid, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. As a means for stopping or retarding motion, the combination of a driven member, a piston connected with said driven member and moving in response thereto, acylinder in Which vsaid piston is reciprocated, a chamber or by-passage communicating with the respective ends of said cylinder and provided with a valve by means 'of which the interior of said chamber or by-passage may be partially or entirely closed to control the communication between the ends of said cylinder, a leakage-compartment through which the rod of said piston reciprocates and serving to catch the Huid which leaks from the cylinder through the piston-rod' bearing, a reservoir communicating with said cylinder, pipe connections between said leakagecompartment and said reservoir, and a body of liquid lling said cylinder, by-passage, leakage-compartment, reservoir and pipe connections, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. As a meansfor stopping or retarding motion, the combination of a driven member, a piston connected with said driven member and moving in respon'se thereto, a cylinder in which said piston is reciprocated, a chamber or by-passage communicating with the respective ends of said cylinder and provided Vwith a valve by means of which the interior which the rod of said piston reciprocates and serving to catch the fluid which leaks from the cylinder through the piston-rod bearing, a reservoir communicating with said cylinder and a pressure-regulated valve opening inwardly toward said cylinder and controlling the communication between the same and said reservoir, pipe connections between said leakage-compartment and said reservoir, and

a body vof liquid lling said cylinder, by-passage, leakage-compartment, reservoir and l IOO same are reciprocated a chamber or by-pas-v sage communicating with the respective ends of each of said cylinders, and common to each cylinder, a valve located between each end of each cylinder and the communicating chamber or by-passage for restrict-ing or cutting off communication at each of ,said points, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. As a means for retarding or stopping motion, the combination of a driven member, a piston connected with said driven member and moving in response thereto, a liquidcharged cylinder in which said piston is reciprocated, a by-passage connecting the opposite ends of said cylinder and provided With a valve by means of which the interior of said by-passage may be partially or entirely closed to control the communication between the respective ends of said cylinder, a liquid-supplying reservoir connecting with said cylinder for maintaining the supply of liquid thereto, and a valve for controlling or permitting the flow of liquid from vthe reservoir to the cylinder and preventing the flow of the liquid from the cylinder to the reservoir, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. As a means for retarding or stopping motion, the combination of a driven member, a piston connected with said driven member IIO and moving in response thereto, a cylinder in which said piston is reciprocated, a chamber orv by-passage communicating with the respective ends of said cylinder and provided With a valve by means of which the interior of said chamber or by-passage may be par` tially or entirely closed to control the communication between the ends of said cylinder, a body of liquid filling said cylinder and said luy-passage or chamber, and a leakage-compartment through which the said piston-rod reciprocates and serving to receive the liquid leaking from the bearing of the piston-rod and to prevent the admission of the outer air into said cylinder, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. As a means for retarding or stopping motion, the combination of a driven member, a piston connected With said driven member and moving in response thereto, a cylinder in which said piston is reciprocated, a chamber or by-passage communicating With the respective ends of said cylinder and provided with a valve by means of which the interior of said chamber or by-passage may be partially or entirely closed to control the communication between the ends ot` said cylinder, the said cylinder and its by-passage being charged with liquid which practically is con- Iined within said cylinder and by-passage so as to either circulate or stand at rest therein,

and a liquidsuppIying,r reservoir connected with said cylinder and by-passage for automatically maintaining the supply of liquid thereto, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

8. As a means for retarding or stopping motion, the combination of a driven member, a piston connected with said driven member and moving in response thereto, a cylinder in which said piston is reciprocated, a chamber or by-passage communicating with the respective ends of said cylinder and provided with a valve by means ot which the interior of said chamber or by-passage may be partially or entirely closed to control the communication between the ends of said cylinder, and a liquid-supplying,r reservoir connected with and supplying said cylinder and bypassage, a leakage compartment through which the said piston-rod reciprocates and serving to receive the liquid leaking from the bearing of the piston-rod and to prevent the admission of the outer air into said cylinder, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of the two subscribing witnesses.

MOSES S. OKUN.

Witnesses:

E. BAYLES, WILLIS FoWLnR. 

